How many sick days are you allowed to take?

[Abigail47]

In my last job, they didn't really care that much about sick leave. They would let people take up to about two weeks uncertified sick leave, and if you were certified for sick leave, you could take months of sick leave. They also didn't do return to work meetings for sick periods of less that five days.

I only took about four days sick leave in a year in that last job.

I started a new job seven months ago and I'm in shock.

I've taken four days sick leave in the whole seven month period. Two different periods of two days. I was sick. They were uncertified (as I had moved to a new area and hadn't registered with a local doctor in time) and I didn't get paid.

After each period I was called into an office with a manager and made to do a return to work meeting.
I was told in each meeting that too much sick leave can leave to contract termination.

My colleague just took five days certified sick leave, and on her return they said the same to her, that too much sick leave can lead to contract termination.

Aibu to think that four days sick leave in a whole year is not a lot.

Like we are going to get sick . Everyone does.
In one of my sick periods I totally lost my voice with a chest infection. I couldn't speak at all and I have a customer facing role.

What is sick leave like in your organisation?

@Abigail47 yes I think you would like it over here! I am public sector (LG) and I remind myself how lucky I am frequently. 29 days AL with the option to buy more, 5 months full sick pay, flexi time and flexible working as standard, option to compress/stretch hours, go to the office according to business need but lots of exclusive WFH roles, if I have an appointment I just put it in my calendar as a “private appointment” and am trusted to make up the time when I see fit or not take a lunch break, manage my own diary and basically do whatever I think is necessary whenever I think it is necessary to get the job done. It’s how all employers should be - our staff retention rate is excellent!

You just can’t win it seems. The last government wanted to get people off disability benefits and back into work but there appears to be absolutely no sympathy for anyone who isn’t able to charge through life at 110%. No wonder people can’t get back into the workplace.

Yeah it's the worst. And they always sound suspicious when you ring in.

That's why they make you call in i think, you make you feel extremely uncomfortable.

Because why can't you send an email in to say you're sick.

The workplace martyrs who come in sick or whilst still infectious always spread their stomach bugs and flu around for everyone else to enjoy 🤢

Depends what's wrong with you, you absolutely can get a sick note if say a chest infection, the actual flu, a broken bone, sciatica and similar. For "I was sick and clammy a few days" nope.

For OP it's different everywhere. I've had jobs where 6 months full pay and 6 months half pay, I've also had jobs where every single day sick is gone over in detail. And yes three strikes and your out is standard.

Currently in a 6 months full pay role and at my age with everything going wrong I'm happy I got this.

Such a joke. If you're ill enough that you would struggle to work IMO there's no way you should be working, particularly with anything contagious. I had really low sickness absence (haven't kept track of the days like some of the performative people here) until firstly when I worked in an office with a high culture of presenteeism that led to people coming in with D&V and all sorts, and secondly when I had children in nursery. Why should I lose my job because I have small children who lick the floor and whatever else and thus get bugs i can't avoid? Or because I have a poor immune system versus others? If you are a malingerer absolutely this should be cracked down on, but IME it is usually obvious who these people are and it isn't necessarily the people who take the most sick days.

My company allows one months sick leave with less than 3 months service, rising to 6 months on full pay followed by 6 months on half pay after 3 years, so is pretty good if you have a long term illness. We also have return to work interviews after every period of sick leave, and if you hit certain 'triggers' - more than 12 days in a year or more than 3 periods of absence in a year HR willl lead to a referral to occupational health.

By contrast, the place my son works at has no company sick pay, so he gets no pay for the first 3 days, then claims statutory sick pay from the 4th day onwards.

I've never liked working in an office where people are coughing and spluttering all over the place to avoid hitting 'triggers', and would prefer people didn't come in and infect everyone! The UK has some of the lowest levels of sick leave in comparison with other countries (I've not read the full thread, so this may have been mentioned already). www.mitrefinch.co.uk/blog/time-and-attendance/sick-leave-uk-europe-2020/

Luckily I work from home 3 days a week nowadays so it's not such a big issue for me😃

The thing is, under 2 years with a company, and they can actually end your contract for no reason at all, they don't even need to use "too many days sick" as an excuse.

Yes the whole line is automated ….it’s a dedicated sick line….it asks you to leave your name …..managers name….service you work for and your payroll number…..you are then sent a text which confirms you have rung in…..you do exactly the same thing the day you resume work…..simples 😊

Wow I was just reading an article about menstrual leave around the world there.

It says that in Vietnam all female employees are entitled to three days of menstrual leave per month.

And It says that Japan has had menstrual leave since the 1940s.

I wonder can we campaign for it.

How simple and easy.

That is the NHs respecting their employees.

I think that's quite unusual. Only cuz everyone I know has to ring their manager.

Maybe other jobs do that too

You are new it’s a lot of days off in that short a time.

my DP has worked same place FT plus tons of overtime for 18 years. He’s never had a sick day, when he had covid whilst working from home he worked on the less bad days then he slept for five days straight so that was taken as unpaid leave. But no sick days.

NHS we generally text or email in sick.

Return to work interview is mandatory but often very brief (a quick - are you OK in the changing room).

New policy that if you are off more than 8 days (which I've just triggered after a bad bout of covid) or 3 separate absences in 6 months triggers a warning and monitoring for the next six months.

No one seems to be taking the new policy very seriously though. We work with small vectors of snotting infections.

Covid (or a bad resp tract infection) is running through the place at the moment and at least one colleague has been off every day for the last two weeks. These people are genuinely ill we've all seen them coughing before they go off and after they return. Many of us chalk up a number of short absences each year with resp tract infections or D&V. Loads of us worked through covid and are fairly mask averse now.

Maybe presenteeism is contributing to the spread? Who knows.
Maybe our hand hygiene is terrible (but I don't think so).

You can't do my job from home. And the thought of doing it sub-par is just awful.

Whether you got a cold or had a heart attack then process is the same….self certify first and get a sick note on the 8 th day of sickness…. That’s in the U.K. anyway

Has he never been sick in 18 years?

He's a living miracle

Oh and btw be careful they don’t try to dismiss you. I had to have major surgery whilst in my second year of my career, no choice in the matter. So I was made redundant at the same time as once off sick they didn’t want me.

Is that because he doesn’t get paid for sick? …..cos why would you work when you are sick? Ridiculous IMO

He’s really lucky and rarely gets sick. But if he does come down with a cold or is under the weather or something he still always goes to work. He worked away all over the country for over 10years in and out of hospitals… he’d come home and I’d catch stuff off of him!

Because he doesn’t want to lose his job. Sick days get noted moves you higher up the list if there’s ever redundancies…..there’s been many bouts of redundancies.

Because one is someone with a serious illness and the other is someone who might be taking the piss. Someone signed off for weeks/months has had a doctor check and confirm that they are too ill to work. Someone ringing I sick for a day or two could jsut have a hangover/fancy a day in bed/a day shopping. So the latter is treated more harshly to discourage people from taking the piss.

This is why it is based on instances. A single but long and go certified instance is understandable. Multiple "I'm too ill to work today" needs checking.

and this is why I stay in the nhs

I actually tried to take an annual leave day off to attend an interview for another company this month, and they wouldn't let me have that day off on annual leave either! I was told that there Is no annual leave available to take for the whole month of August / most of September as 'annual leave is all gone for August and most of september".

I was thinking Jesus I'm never going to get out of this place. How am I ever going to get out of this place, if I can't ever attend an interview

Very very luckily I explained to the interviewer that I couldn't get annual leave off, and he changed the interview time to 5.30pm. I think he works to 6pm.

You are lucky to have that option. He works for a company that works for the NHS but if he took sick days he’d have lost his job many years ago.

How the heck do you not get ill? Ever since Covid, almost everyone I know, has been ill numerous times over the last 2 years when in the past, they would rarely have fallen ill.
I know numerous people from work off sick, like really poorly with norovirus and other nasty bugs. All caught it from their children who caught it from school. How do heck do you avoid being ill?! I’m flabbergasted!

That’s the sort of big organisations I’ve always worked at. Annual leave could only ever be one week at a time with three months notice at my managers discretion, she normally refused it knowing I was a single parent trying to cover some of the holidays with my child.

the worst was when there was a tragic death in my family completely unexpected and I had to go into work crying my eyes out. And wasn’t allowed a day off for the funeral as we were only allowed funeral days for husband or wife and that was one day. Just horrific :((((